Summary:

Three months pass by and Eric finally demands to know what is going on with Ryan. Ryan denies anything so Eric takes rather drastic measures to prove that he is not going crazy. More than one truth is finally revealed to Eric.

Notes:

So another update xD I know I said I probably wasn't going to update until after May 28th but I really can't stay away from this story, it's too much fun to write. And I love Eric/Ryan. As I promised this one is more central to Eric/Ryan instead of Ryan and Esteban. Horatio, Calleigh and Frank throw in for good measure too xD

If it isn't clear enough, three months have gone since Eric was released from hospital and there was no talk about Ryan being shot, or the fact that Eric is completely fine but Eric had been mulling it over and over in his head until he sick and tired of thinking that he was going crazy because he remembered one thing and everyone else plus Ryan was saying another. A little angsty maybe, but trust me it will definitely become Eric/Ryan xD

Ryan moaned as he moved his arm from across his face. Someone was banging on the door of his flat and had woken him. He had been sleeping on his couch, having fallen asleep as he had been looking through some case notes from cold cases. It was a rare day off for him but Ryan had taken a copy of the notes home so he could review them and see if there was anything that had been missed in the original investigation. Climbing off the couch Ryan ran a hand through his hair and cursed whoever was at his door. When he finally opened the door to his flat he did not expect to see Eric stood there, arms folded and a determined on his face.

It had been three months since Eric had been released from the hospital, three whole months of normality, or so Ryan thought. He had been stuck, by Horatio's orders, in the lab constantly for the first month of so because H hadn't wanted Eric out in the field so soon after his injury. During that time Ryan had found himself staring at Eric more than he should, silently deciding which aspects of Eric in general he loved the most. Eric for his part hadn't seemed to notice, but occasionally Ryan had caught the older CSI staring at him with a strange, thoughtful look on his face. Apart from the strange glances and a rather strained silence between them most of the time the three months after Eric was released were relatively normal. Eric hadn't mentioned Ryan being shot and Ryan hadn't mentioned Eric being shot and Ryan assumed that his father had succeeded and Eric thought he was wearing a vest.

And yet now here Eric was, stood outside his flat and Ryan had to take a moment to try to process the fact that the look on Eric's face told him that his father had actually failed but Eric had just been ignoring what his heart told him and had possibly tried to accept what everyone around him had been telling him. Fighting his urge to tell Eric to go away or to take a deep breath to calm himself Ryan cocked his head slightly to the side and decided to take the initiative and find out why Eric was there.

"Delko what are you-?"

"Can I come in?" Eric inquired rather harshly, cutting Ryan off abruptly. Ryan blinked in shock and Eric did not wait for him to collect his thoughts, merely pushed past Ryan into the flat.

"Sure." Ryan finally said sarcastically but Eric ignored him. Ryan slammed the door shut and followed Eric as he walked into the open plan living room of Ryan's flat, his eyes flying over how every single thing was methodically placed and set at clean cut angles.

"Tell me what's going on Wolfe." Eric demanded, turning suddenly to face Ryan who stopped in his tracks to avoid bumping into Eric.

Ryan was silent. Oh god. He thought as he crossed to the coffee table and started sorting through the coasters and papers set upon it, trying to calm himself down. Unfortunately Eric was one of few people that knew that when Ryan's OCD started acting up like this it was because he was nervous or trying to avoid a subject.

"Wolfe."

"I don't know what you're talking about Delko." Ryan snapped, keeping his hands gripped tightly around the papers he was holding to stop himself from slamming them down on the table in anger.

Eric scoffed. "Sure you don't. You know, I don't know about you but to me, getting shot at pretty much point blank range, in the chest, and then being fine about twenty or so minutes later isn't normal."

Ryan rolled his eyes. Great so he didn't forget that, he thought, thoroughly annoyed with Delko for having such a good memory. What was the point of being able to infer things into people's heads if it didn't always work? Ryan held back his urge to voice his annoyance, since Delko knew something was wrong anyway. Instead he gave the same old reply.

"I told you Delko, I was wearing a vest."

"No you weren't!" Eric exclaimed, the anger clear in his voice. "I was here when H called me for this scene Wolfe! I saw you grab your kit and come with me, not stopping for anything, no vest, no nothing." He continued his voice harsh.

Ryan sighed and stood up to face his colleague, already formulating another excuse. Eric however seemed done with discussing it and he drew his service weapon from its holster and aimed it at Ryan. Shocked at such a display Ryan held his hands up in a placating gesture, his mind racing.

"Come on Delko, put the gun down. Maybe…maybe getting shot impaired your memory and you're forgetting a few things? I mean, Horatio did tell us that you were asking for Marisol when you first woke up so-." Ryan managed to stammer out but Eric cut him off with a laugh, lowering his gun momentarily as he eyed Ryan with a strange look in his eye. He did not look angry, he did not look crazed, Eric merely looked calm and controlled, if not determined and slightly frustrated.

"I was tired and only half-conscious when that happened. And yet the next day when I woke up I was completely fine, hardly any pain at all and I remembered every single thing that had happened to me, even getting shot." Eric pointed out, re-aiming his gun at Ryan. "In fact that night, before I awoke and felt fine I swear I saw you stood beside my bed, holding my hand even. So tell me, Wolfe, did I imagine that too?" Eric spat Ryan's name and Ryan took a step back in shock at the harshness of Eric's tone.

"Come on Delko just put the gun down." Ryan repeated as calmly as he could, his eyes fixed upon the weapon. If Eric shot him his secret would be revealed and Esteban would force him to leave Miami and never return. Ryan had seen his father's anger only once but it had been terrifying to behold even then. Eric laughed again and Ryan was suddenly sure that he could not talk his way out of this unless he gave Eric what he wanted.

"No Wolfe if you won't tell me," Eric murmured, "I'm going to proof something is going on with you."

As Ryan opened his mouth to remind Eric that he had neighbours, to beg Eric not to shoot him Eric took one breath and fired twice.

/

"Horatio?!" Frank demanded the lieutenant as soon as he the lift doors opened and Horatio appeared in front of him straight away from Natalia's lab where he, Calleigh and Natalia had been going over some evidence from the same cold case Ryan had been reviewing at home.

"What is it Frank?" He asked, taking in Frank's frantic appearance.

"Just got a call to dispatch from a woman who said she'd heard shots fired. I checked the address and it's Wolfe's." Frank rushed, "I've held off on sending out cops, thought I'd let you know first."

"Thank you Frank." Horatio said. He pulled his phone free and quickly dialled Ryan's number as he beckoned for Calleigh to join them.
"Mr. Wolfe-." Horatio began as soon as the ringing tone stopped but paused when he heard not Ryan's voice but Eric's. Horatio frowned as he listened to Eric's explanation of why he was at Ryan's house and why shots had been fired but he accepted the explanation and turned to Frank.
"Thank you Frank, no officers will be needed."

"What's going on Horatio?" Calleigh asked as Frank nodded.

"Shots were fired at Ryan's flat." Horatio replied calmly.

"Is he okay?" Calleigh asked immediately.

Horatio nodded "Eric answered Ryan's phone and said that he had gone to Ryan to ask him for advice because he had been experiencing double vision and he knew that Ryan had had problems when he was shot in the eye. The shot was a miss-fire on his part and neither of them are injured."

"Shouldn't we head over there just to check?" Calleigh asked, the concern evident in her voice.

"I trust Eric's word Calleigh," Horatio replied with a small smile. Calleigh knew that smile, she knew it meant that Horatio knew more than he was saying but she also knew that she could trust Horatio.
"I want you to keep an eye on Eric and Ryan when they return to work Calleigh." Horatio added.

"Of course. What exactly should I be looking for?" Calleigh asked.

"Who knows." Was all Horatio said in reply before walking off back to Natalia.

/

Ryan blinked rapidly as he slowly came back round to consciousness and moaned as pain shot through his head. For a moment he was left wondering what had happened before he suddenly remembered and groaned. Eric had shot him in the stomach and then in the knee, shattering his knee-cap and sending him careening to the floor. Due to his fall he had smacked his head on the floor, knocking him unconscious. Lifting his head up Ryan noticed that Eric had undone his shirt and had pulled his pants up over his knee so he could observe the wounds. He had healed, Ryan knew it without even looking and he also knew that his blood was all over the floor, all over his clothes, staining the wood and fabric and Ryan lurched into a sitting position, intent on getting up and rushing to clean up. Eric rested a hand firmly on his shoulder to stop him.

"What is going on Wolfe?" The Cuban demanded, his voice low and disbelief evident in his tone.

Ryan sighed. He really needed to clean up, it had only been a few minutes and he already felt sick and desperate to wipe at the blood on him and on the floor.

"Let me clean up, Eric, and I'll explain everything to you." Ryan eventually said, resigned now to his fate. If he told Eric, Esteban was going to find out he knew and that would put Eric in danger and the only way Ryan could stop that was by leaving Miami. He'd be lucky if his father didn't turn up outside his door almost immediately after he intended to tell him to cart him off, without giving him a chance to explain himself properly.

Eric made no reply but he moved his hand back. Ryan moved away from Eric before standing up. He snatched his phone from where it lay next to Eric, he assumed someone had called to find out what the shots were and Eric had answered, and disappeared from the living room into his bathroom. Eric watched him go before turning to look at the blood on the floor. This isn't natural, he thought as he moved to get a cloth and help Ryan with the cleanup, even though he knew that it wouldn't be good enough for Ryan. He hoped Ryan wouldn't spend a lot of time getting cleaned up so he could tell him what was going on.

In his bathroom Ryan fumbled with his phone, running his thumbs over the keys and wondering if he should dial his dad now or not. If he didn't do it now he never would so Ryan dialled the number Esteban had given him and listened to it ring.

"Hello?" A voice asked. Ryan smiled involuntarily as he heard his mother's voice answering the phone just before it went to answer-phone.

"Hey mum, I need to talk to dad." Ryan said immediately. It was evident that his father did not have caller ID for him yet otherwise his mother would have known who he was. There was no reply to him but Ryan could hear muffled talking on the other end so he knew his mother must be talking to Esteban.

"What's going on Ryan?" Esteban asked quickly, his voice laced with concern.

"Eric knows. He knows." Ryan gasped. The gravity of his situation finally hit him and his eyes filled with tears. This is brilliant, he thought angrily, I just found out that I love Eric and now this stupid shit has to happen!

"What do you mean he knows?" Esteban yelled, bringing Ryan back from his thoughts. "How the hell did he find out?"

"He didn't forget that I wasn't wearing a vest." Ryan stated, "He remembered but he hasn't mentioned it over the last three months or so, I just thought he'd actually forgotten but he hasn't. He came over to prove it to himself."

"What did he do to you Ryan? Did he hurt you?" Esteban asked urgently. Ryan heard his mother demanding the exact same thing immediately after Esteban and smiled sadly. He wiped at his eyes to stop himself from bursting into tears properly but the pause seemed to give Esteban his answer.
"He hurt you didn't he? I'm coming over!"

"No!" Ryan cried, then winced at how loud he had said that, he didn't want to call Eric to the bathroom.
"No dad I'm fine really, I wouldn't be talking to you if I wasn't okay."

"So what did he do to prove it to himself?" Esteban asked and Ryan could just imagining him pacing back and forth in an attempt to calm himself whereas his mother would be pestering him for answers to find out if Ryan was okay.

"He…he shot me." Ryan admitted.

Silence followed his words.

"He shot you!" Esteban exploded. Ryan winced and held his phone away from his ear. "What the hell is wrong with him?!"

"Dad relax I'm okay." Ryan laughed despite his tears.

Esteban made a noise similar to "humph" down the phone and Ryan sighed, leaning against his bathroom door and looking down at the mess of his clothes.

"Is he still there?" Esteban asked suddenly.

"Yeah he's in the living room waiting for an explanation." Ryan replied.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm not going to kill him if that's what you're asking me." Ryan growled.

"I'm not asking you to," Esteban said immediately, defensively and Ryan shook his head, he knew exactly what his father was saying to him.
"If you tell him the truth Ryan you must swear him to secrecy! If he does not keep your secret you cannot stay here."

"Won't running away make me look suspicious?"

"Ryan, we wouldn't run away without some sort of excuse. I'm just letting you know." Esteban murmured.

"I know."

Ryan flipped his phone shut and dropped it onto his neatly folded laundry pile. Taking a breath to calm himself he peeled off his clothes and added them to the laundry pile before stepping into the shower and turning the water on full blast. It as a shock of cold before the heat finally kicked in and Ryan had to bite his lip to stop himself from shouting. Would Eric be willing to keep it a secret when Ryan told him the truth? Had the positions been reversed Ryan would have kept the secret without being asked but he loved Eric, and he wouldn't want Eric to leave. Eric didn't love him, he was sure of that, and things had been tense between them when they had first met. Ryan thought they were friends now but he could never tell with Eric because his moods changed almost with a click of the fingers.

He glanced down at his stomach and felt for where he knew the bullet had entered. It hadn't been a through and through and Ryan could feel the bullet dissolving into his system, becoming one with his body so it would not harm him. Eric had opened his shirt, had sat there while he had been unconscious and watched him heal, but he had had also had a clear view of his chest, and his legs. The connotation of those sort of thoughts were not things that Ryan particularly wanted to be dealing with at the moment, since Eric was still in his house so he tried to concentrate on the fact that his floor was probably still covered in blood right now. Ryan was glad that his floors were wooden, it meant he could pry up each plank and clean under it, where the blood had probably seeped through by now.

Pulling on some clean pants and not even needing to glance around to know that he had no clean shirts in his bathroom Ryan took a deep breath and exited the room. He almost head-butted Eric as he did so and had to do a double-take.

"What are you doing?" He asked somewhat harshly, conscious of his half-naked state and Eric's proximity to him.

"You were taking a long time, I thought you might have climbed out of the window to escape answering my questions." Eric replied casually.

"Sure because my neighbours probably wouldn't notice me jumping out of my window. They're probably all wondering what happened now because of you shooting me." Ryan muttered angrily.

"It's not as if the fall would stop you from getting up and walking away." Eric shot back.

Ryan scowled, pushing past Eric to head for his wardrobe and find a clean shirt to wear. "I needed to make sure I was properly clean Delko." He lied.

"Oh so it had nothing to do with the conversation you had with daddy?" Eric inquired.

Ryan whirled around to face Eric, his face contorted in anger. "You were eavesdropping? What so you followed me to the bathroom so you could listen to what I did? To see if there was some magic involved in my healing process? To see if I had to dig the bullets you fired into me out of my skin?" He yelled. He advanced on Eric who held his ground. He had left his gun in the living room, he already had all the proof he needed now of Ryan's inhumanity but that fact alone made him wary of his colleague. Eric didn't know whether Ryan possessed super strength to go with his ability to heal faster than humans should and he didn't want to find out.

"I just want to know what's going on Wolfe." Eric said softly as Ryan reached him and glared up at him. It was the one advantage that Eric felt he had, extra height over Ryan.

"So you thought you'd eavesdrop…typical really isn't it? Curiosity is a killer Delko." Ryan noted.

"Please just tell me what's going on." Eric requested.

"I will, while I clean up my living room." Ryan insisted, forgoing putting on a shirt at the thought of the blood and pushing past Eric to head into his living room and clean up. He was surprised to find that the floor was clean. His eyes, sharpened to find the smallest specks of dirt after years of dealing with his OCD, spotted small droplets of blood still soaked into the wood, but it was evident Eric had tried.

"Yeah I cleaned it up for you." Eric admitted as he joined Ryan. "It's probably not as thorough as you'd like but I thought I could take a little stress off you."

"Oh. Thanks Delko."

Ryan was extremely surprised and slightly touched at Eric's actions and swallowed down his urge to fall to his knees and clean just as thoroughly as he'd like to. He knew despite what Eric said he had only cleaned it up so that he could find out what was going on quicker but it was a nice gesture nonetheless. Ryan sat on one end of his couch and when the leather stuck to his bare skin he became acutely aware that his entire upper-body was on show for Eric, but the other man wasn't looking at him. He had taken a seat on the opposite end of the couch and was looking at his hands as if he were nervous.

"Alright then." Ryan began and Eric looked right at him. "Well you've probably guessed that I'm not human."

Eric snorted with laughter and rolled his eyes but Ryan ignored him. He had never had to explain this to anyone before, and had only ever heard his father explain it once and he had only been young at the time. He was nervous about Eric's reaction.

"I don't know what to say about what I am," Ryan continued, breaking eye contact with Eric and staring down at his hands. "I'm not sure if there is actually a name for what I am, for what my family is. I'm immortal, no attempt on my life would ever succeed, even if you chopped off my head or dismembered me or anything. Well I assume that's true but that's never been done before."

"Wolfe!" Eric interrupted. Ryan glanced at him and found him torn between glaring and smirking. "You're rambling." He stated calmly.

"Oh right. Well. I've never had to explain this before okay? I don't know what to say." Ryan muttered, embarrassed. "I guess I should say that I…we…my family and any others like me…have the ability to heal other people. We can…take their wounds and make them ours, healing them and obviously since we heal quickly we'll be okay. I will be alive forever, there is no way for me to end my life, even if I wanted to." Ryan trailed off as Eric's brow furrowed in thought.

"Is that what happened to me?" He asked after a moment. "Did you take my wound from me and heal me?"

Ryan shook his head. "My dad did it. I've never done it before so he offered."

"Why?" Eric asked, his voice low but Ryan could not tell whether he was angry.

"Well I heard Horatio talking about how you'd asked for Marisol. I was worried about what would happen if you had to go through her death twice. And I wasn't sure how far back your memory failure went, you could have forgotten Speedle died-." Ryan stopped suddenly as he mentioned because anger passed over Eric's face. He didn't like speaking of Speedle with Ryan for two reasons, one, Ryan didn't know Speedle and therefore had not right talking about him and two, it made Eric feel guilty because he had given Ryan a really hard time because he had seen him as a replacement for Speedle.

"So you got your dad to cure me." Eric stated darkly.

"We didn't cure you Eric, you aren't diseased." Ryan snapped. Eric had wanted an explanation and Ryan had been nothing but truthful, even if the thought of Speedle hadn't exactly been a concern of his until that very moment.

"Wait you can cure people and nothing at all would kill you…" Eric muttered, his brow furrowing again.

Ryan knew before Eric said anything exactly what his friend was going to say. Marisol had been diseased, she had had cancer and Ryan could have cured it, if he had wanted to. He could have helped Marisol when she had been shot and ensured her survival. Eric was trying to process that and Ryan's mouth went dry, wondering what Eric's reaction would be and if he would become violent.

"Ryan why don't you use this power, this gift you have?" Eric inquired. His voice was void of emotion so Ryan couldn't gauge Eric's thoughts.

"I can't." He replied shortly.

"Why not?"

"Why do you think Eric? What do you think would happen if I just walked into an ER and healed every single person in there? Or if I revealed I could heal cancer or HIV or any of those horrible things?" Ryan demanded.

"You'd be famous for one." Eric pointed out.

"I'd be a freak!" Ryan spat. "Everybody would want me for my abilities and nobody would want to know me for any other reasons. I'd be a slave of humanity, used to save the entire human race."

"Do you have such little faith in humanity?" Eric inquired.

"Don't talk to me like that!" Ryan hissed. "I trust the few people on Earth that I know I can and you should be thankful you're one of them after what you did today! My father warned me that if I was ever found out that I would have to leave Miami. I love it here. I love my friends, my job! If it ever got out that I could do any of the things I could I would have to leave."

Eric was rather taken aback by the harshness of Ryan's tone and he went silent. Mulling over what he had just suggested he could see why it would seem selfish to Ryan. He really wanted to ask why Ryan hadn't used his powers to save Marisol, but the answers would have been the same. Ryan had made it clear that nobody could ever know or he would disappear entirely from the world. Eric didn't want Ryan to disappear, but he couldn't help but feel angry, no sad, that there had been a way to save Marisol.

"Eric," Ryan began and Eric looked up abruptly. He wasn't used to Ryan using his first name and it sounded strange on his friends lips. "You cannot tell anyone of this."

Eric said nothing and something close to desperation appeared in Ryan's eyes.

"Please Eric I'm serious!" He exclaimed, "You cannot tell anyone. Not H, no one. My dad-."

"Is serious about making him come home if this news ever got out." Another voice finished and Ryan jumped up to find Esteban stood by the front door to his flat, Ryan's mother stood next to him, both with their arms folded. Eric stood too, a little thrown. The last time he had seen Ryan's father he had had white hair and a beard but now he had disguised himself to look younger and Eric had no idea who this man was.

"Dad I-." Ryan began but Esteban cut him off with one look. Ryan's mother moved forward towards her son and embraced Ryan.

"I understand that my son is something of an enigma to you, Eric Delko, to the extent that you had to shoot him to prove to yourself that there was something off with him." Esteban began as Ryan's mother began to explore Ryan for wounds as Ryan tried to explain that he was fine.

"I am sorry about that Wolfe." Eric said.

Esteban laughed humourlessly. "Sorry or not you still shot my son. And if you ever, ever tell anyone about Ryan I will reverse what I did for you."

"Dad!" Ryan cried.

"Do you think threatening me is going to keep me quiet?" Eric growled. Ryan could see this was not going to end well. Eric had a horrible temper and his father baiting him was not a good idea, even if Esteban knew Eric could do nothing to him.

"Stop this Esteban." Ryan's mother broke in soothingly. "Threatening the poor boy is going to get us nowhere. Surely we should be appealing to his love for Ryan then his fear of being injured?" She inquired.

Ryan froze. He looked from his mother to Esteban and then to Eric. Eric looked confused, he had no idea what Ryan's mother was referring to but Ryan was sure that his mother was going to reveal his feelings for Eric, assuming that Eric felt the same way.

"My love for Ryan?" Eric asked.

"First, I believe introductions are in order." Ryan's mother said with a smile. "My name is, for now at least, Francesca. I am Ryan's mother."

Eric took the hand that 'Francesca' offered him in slightly shock. Esteban made no move to re-introduce himself so Francesca did so for him.

"My husband Esteban, Ryan's father." She supplied. Esteban offered Eric his hand after Francesca elbowed him and Eric shook it nervously.
"Ryan you obviously know. And you are Eric Delko. Yes we know you, we've heard about you from Ryan. Now, Eric, please keep what you know about Ryan, and us of course, to yourself. I mean, I'm sure your love for Ryan as your partner is enough for you to be willing to do so?" Francesca asked softly.

"My love as his partner?" Eric repeated. "I'm not Ryan's partner." He said as Ryan said "He's not my partner mum."

"But Ryan, Esteban made it clear to me that you loved Eric here. Surely that love is returned?" Francesca inquired.

"No mum!" Ryan snapped. "Will you two just go away please? I had this situation under control."

Francesca frowned. She knew Ryan well and she was aware of how she may have inadvertently outed him to Eric because she had been misinformed. Esteban opened his mouth to argue with Ryan but Francesca pinched his skin hard between her nails and his words turned to a pained gasp.

"Of course honey." She said, "Call us if you need anything."

Esteban turned to leave when Francesca pulled his arm and Eric was sure he heard her mutter "I told you this was a bad idea," as they left and pulled the door shut. Had he heard correctly? Was Ryan in love with him? Eric wasn't quite sure how to process that information. He had never thought about Ryan like that, had merely assumed that any person that had Ryan would be lucky, he could be a great guy. A tense silence had fallen between them and Ryan was shifting nervously on his feet, head down, eyes firmly focused on the floor.

"I should go." Eric eventually mumbled. Ryan's eyes snapped to him and he smiled wryly.

"I'm sorry about my parents." He muttered.

"Don't worry about it," Eric replied, his voice tight. He had had a lot of information dumped on him in the space of about ten minutes and he was having trouble processing it. Ryan took his tone as disgust and had to bite back a sigh of disappointment. "I won't tell anyone Wolfe." Eric added before heading over to the table and grabbing his gun. Ryan opened his flat door for Eric and the Cuban didn't even look at him as he left. Ryan closed the door behind Eric with a sigh and lent heavily against it. He had a feeling that his work relationship with Eric was going to take a few backwards steps now, if Eric's reaction at his mother's words was anything to go by. It was a shame, they had just become friends as well and Ryan wanted it to at least stay that way.

Moving forward from the door Ryan grabbed a cloth, some wood polish, a spray bottle of bleach and filled a bowl with warm, soapy water. Placing them all down next to the part of the floor that had been covered in his blood Ryan grabbed a knife from the counter and knelt down on the floor, resolving to put the issue of Eric out of his mind until he had to deal with him tomorrow.